Journey to the West: Starting from Changing Sun Wukong’s fate
Chapter 232 - 233: Master and Three Disciples Flee in the Night

Chapter 232: Chapter 233: Master and Three Disciples Flee in the Night

Although Buddha Juriyunsun was indeed a Buddha, they all resided in the Western Direction, so their relationship was quite amicable.

When such an incident occurred, they naturally could only look to Buddha Juriyunsun for help.

"No one else resides in your temple. It must have been that furry-faced Thunder Duke, who was once the Great Sage Equalling Heaven causing Havoc in Heaven and also destroyed the Peach Garden. Now that he has damaged your treasure, there’s nothing surprising about it!"

"But if you reason with him, I’m afraid the monkey will quibble and deny everything. And if it really came to arguing, at that point, if a fight broke out, how would you two stand a chance against the four of them?"

"Now, it would be better to go and cajole them, saying that the fruits are not missing, you just miscounted, and offer them an apology."

"Their meal has been cooked already. Wait until they eat, and then serve them some side dishes."

"By then, lock the doors and secure the locks. Lock up all the layers of doors, do not let him out, and wait until your master returns to deal with it."

"Then, that senior monk is an old friend of your master’s. To spare him would also be a favour from your master, while not sparing him would allow you to catch these few thieves, and naturally, you would be excused from the crime of negligent supervision."

Qing Feng and Mingyue couldn’t help but look at each other and nodded in agreement, "Makes sense! Makes sense! Thank you, Buddha Ancestor, for the guidance, thank you, Buddha Ancestor, for the guidance!"

Immediately, the two of them summoned their spirits and squeezed out a smile on their faces.

Returning to the great hall, they bowed to Xuanzang and said, "Great Master, we spoke crudely just now and were very offensive. Please forgive us, forgive us."

Xuanzang was taken aback upon hearing this, considering how those two had almost cursed even including their parents, only a moment ago, and now they had suddenly become so amiable.

Xuanzang asked, "What’s wrong with you two?"

Qing Feng said with a smile, "Master, we didn’t lose any fruits. It’s just that the trees were tall and the leaves dense, so we didn’t see clearly. We just recounted, and the number is still the same."

Upon hearing this, Zhu Bajie became rather self-assured and said, "You boy, you started berating us without clarifying things, cursing at us and all. You simply have no respect!"

Sun Wukong, however, didn’t take it to heart. He had just heard from his senior brother through telepathy and was excited. He hadn’t expected his brother to have arrived nearby so soon and had understood the whole situation.

Although his brother had visited Mount Huaguo a few days earlier and had warned him to be careful, he didn’t expect things to develop this quickly.

Xuanzang, after hearing the boy’s words, also showed a calm expression and said, "If that’s the case, let’s eat."

Zhu Bajie, hearing this, went to serve the rice while Sand Monk arranged the table and chairs.

Sand Monk was somewhat panicked inside, as they had already eaten the fruits, and now this boy claimed the count was correct.

The two boys brought over some side dishes, ate with the master and disciples, and even brought a pot of fine tea, enjoying the meal together.

A little later, the two boys went to shut and lock the doors.

Zhu Bajie, seeing this, chuckled and said, "Your local customs are strange, eh? Why lock the doors to eat?"

Mingyue also said with a smile, "Exactly, exactly. We will open the doors after the meal."

Qing Feng cursed, "We’ve been doomed by you people! You thieving monks, you’ve stolen our Immortal Fruits and even pushed over our Immortal Tree, ruining the Immortal Root of my Five Villas!"

"Even in front of the Western Buddha, I’m afraid your Buddha Ancestor won’t help you!"

Xuanzang, hearing the two’s words, was also stunned and put down the bowl in his hand.

He watched as the two boys locked all the locks of the temple gates.

Then, they changed their faces again and cursed at them, thief this and thief that, continuing until the sky turned dusky, before they finally left.

At this point, the four disciples all wore expressions of utter confusion.

Xuanzang looked at Sun Wukong and said, "Sun Wukong, you stole his fruits and even knocked down his tree?"

"Elder brother, you are wrong here. We didn’t eat his fruits, so why would we knock down his tree? Now even if we had a point, we couldn’t explain ourselves clearly!"

Zhu Bajie knew they hadn’t eaten any fruits, but if they had actually knocked down the Ginseng Fruit Tree, they would have had nothing to say.

"You, Zhu Bajie, talk less. When did I, Old Sun, ever knock down their tree?"

Sun Wukong couldn’t help but scold with a laugh.

"They came up to our door cursing!" Zhu Bajie pointed to where the two boys had just been.

"They came to our door cursing, and it’s all because of me?"

Sun Wukong disdainfully said, "Alright, alright, those two boys have gone to sleep, we just leave in the night, can’t we? Can’t we avoid those we can’t afford to provoke?"

Early on, Sand Monk had already checked the locks and said with a wry smile, "Elder brother, all the gates are locked tight. How are we going to leave?"

Sun Wukong said with a smile, "Don’t you worry. Old Sun has his ways."

Zhu Bajie glanced at Sun Wukong and said, "Of course we’re not worried about whether you have a way. Brother Monkey, your transformation skills are such that you could become any insect or cricket and fly out in an instant. I’m afraid we’ll be the ones left behind to carry the can and suffer!"

"I believe Sun Wukong isn’t that kind of person. If he can get out, he definitely won’t leave us behind!"

Xuanzang nodded affirmatively, showing his trust in Sun Wukong.

Sun Wukong also looked at Xuanzang and said, "See, Master trusts me. Don’t worry, I assure you we will all leave together."

As they spoke, the sky had grown dim, and before they knew it, the moon was high in the sky.

Sun Wukong surveyed the surroundings and then said, "It’s silent all around now; they should be asleep. It’s the perfect time for us to leave."

Zhu Bajie said with a bitter smile, "Brother Monkey, stop messing around. All the main doors are locked now, where can we go?"

Sun Wukong shook his head and said, "Watch my moves!"

Sun Wukong blew on the locked lock, and with a click, it opened.

Then the door was flung open.

Zhu Bajie laughed and said, "Impressive skills, worthy of my Brother Monkey!"

Sun Wukong disdainfully said, "What’s so special about this door, even the Southern Heaven Gate, I can come and go as I please."

"Let’s hurry and go!"

At this time, the group had left through the door.

"Well, well, so you still plan on running away!"

Just at that moment, two boys awoke to the commotion, walked over to see what was happening, and found the master and three disciples attempting to escape.

"Big brother, knock these two out quickly, otherwise we won’t be able to leave!"

Zhu Bajie saw the two boys and couldn’t help but show a look of urgency.

Sun Wukong opened his mouth and a breath of Immortal Qi blew out, making the two boys, who were ready to shout, go limp and fall to the ground.

"Let’s leave now. These two boys won’t wake up for ten days to half a month; by then, we’ll be long gone!"

The four of them glanced at the boys then hurriedly followed the road westward, not stopping for the entire night until dawn.

Zhu Bajie couldn’t help but laugh bitterly and complained, "It’s all your fault, Monkey. If it weren’t for you, we wouldn’t have to do this. I’m so tired, I haven’t slept all night!"

Sun Wukong glared at Zhu Bajie and said, "When I, Old Sun, say something, I mean it. I didn’t overturn his Ginseng Fruit Tree, it’s just that they refuse to let it go. If we don’t leave, should we wait to be punished instead?"

"This is all my fault, I was too greedy. If not for me, we wouldn’t have ended up in this situation!"

At this moment, Sand Monk also spoke up with a tone of regret.

"Junior Brother Sand, don’t be like this. When we reach the roadside forest ahead, we’ll rest for a while and gather our strength before moving on."

Sun Wukong looked at Sand Monk and said indifferently.

He naturally knew from his elder brother that Sand Monk was sent by Heaven to monitor them, so he couldn’t directly expose him. Otherwise, who knew what tactics the Celestial Court might use!

When they reached the roadside forest, Xuanzang dismounted and sat cross-legged to cultivate his spirit. Zhu Bajie lay on a large stone to sleep, and Sand Monk was also tired, while Sun Wukong stood on the side, seemingly unsure what to do.

At this time, Great Immortal Zhen Yuanzi had already left Yuanshi Palace, leading many disciples down from the Thirty-Three Heavens.

He arrived at Wanshou Mountain, Five Villas.

He saw the temple’s main gate wide open, and the ground was clean.

Great Immortal Zhen Yuanzi was in a good mood and said, "Qing Feng and Mingyue are indeed useful. They usually get up only after the sun is high in the sky, but when we’re not here, they get up early and clean."

The disciples behind him also showed smiles.

However, once inside the temple, there was complete silence, and Qing Feng and Mingyue were lying on the ground fast asleep.

"What’s going on here?"

"Qing Feng, Mingyue? Wake up!"

A few disciples went up to shout but saw no response from the two.

"Master!"

The many disciples invariably turned towards Great Immortal Zhen Yuanzi.

Great Immortal Zhen Yuanzi blew a breath of air, and Qing Feng and Mingyue finally woke up leisurely.

Upon waking up, they rubbed their eyes, looked up, and saw their master and many senior brothers.

Frightened, Qing Feng and Mingyue hurriedly kowtowed, with Mingyue saying, "Master! Your old friend, the monk from the Eastern Land, he’s nothing but a bandit!"

Great Immortal Zhen Yuanzi, who already knew the situation from Yuanshi celestial Venerable, smiled and said, "No need to panic, tell me slowly."

Qing Feng finally took a breath and said, "Master, not long after you left, there really was a Tang Monk from the Eastern Land who came here with four monks."

"Not daring to disobey your orders, we asked if they were the ones you mentioned, and then we took out two Ginseng Fruits to offer to them."

"The elder indeed accepted them, recognizing the value of such fine things!"

"But unexpectedly, his three disciples, having not gotten any fruit themselves, went and stole four fruits. When we found out and confronted them, they wouldn’t talk reasonably; behind our backs they..."

Qing Feng got to this point and couldn’t help but be overcome with sadness, tears falling involuntarily.

The senior brothers frowned and said, "Did those monks hit you?"

Mingyue replied, "They didn’t hit us, but they knocked over our Ginseng Fruit Tree."

Great Immortal Zhen Yuanzi was furious, absolutely enraged, and internally shocked. Although he had already learned the news from Yuanshi celestial Venerable, he naturally didn’t wish for his Ginseng Fruit Tree to be knocked over like that.

Now he felt fortunate to have been informed in advance by a Fellow Daoist; otherwise, the consequences would be too dire to imagine.

But now, with Buddhism and Daoist Sect ganging up against him, it seemed quite unreasonable.

Yet, being just at the quasi-saint pinnacle, however dissatisfied he was in his heart, he had no choice but to swallow his grievances.

At that moment, telepathy from Wang Yang reached his ears: "..."

Great Immortal Zhen Yuanzi’s face showed a trace of surprise.